


I Don't Care

by KimchiKitty7



Series: The Caleb Chronicles [4]
Category: Anita Blake: Vampire Hunter - Laurell K. Hamilton
Genre: Character Study, M/M, Working up to plot, introspective
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-14
Updated: 2020-04-14
Packaged: 2021-03-01 18:00:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 517
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23641228
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KimchiKitty7/pseuds/KimchiKitty7
Summary: Alone in the middle of the day, Caleb finds calm to plan his next move.
Series: The Caleb Chronicles [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1686178
Kudos: 9





	I Don't Care

**Author's Note:**

> Still working on developing into a plot, but mostly character development from my own headcanon. This universe contains several characters who are little more than a physical description, which is one of my favorite types to work with. Hope you guys enjoy. No beta, so all mistakes are my own. Constructive criticism and comments are always welcome.

Early in the afternoon had become Caleb's favorite time of day.

Living with vampires meant that everyone's schedule was pretty skewed. The middle of the night was standard working hours. Dawn meant that everyone was going to sleep. Most vampires rose around four or five in the evening, which was when he was supposed to report for feeding duty.

The peak of the day was when everyone, even the strongest of vampires, was asleep. The Circus of the Damned was silent. Of course there were still guards everywhere, but they mostly stuck to the perimeter. As long as he didn't try to leave, no one would notice him.

Everything Caleb did was under the assumption that Anita was still having him watched. It was obvious that she didn't trust him, and most of the city immediately adopted her attitudes and biases. But he could work with that. It would just take time. And after Chimera, if there was one thing he was good at it was biding his time for the right opportunity.

But if he woke up early enough, if he made sure that he was awake when everyone else was asleep, he got something infinitely more precious. Time alone and unsupervised. No one to interrogate him about his every move. No one to constantly accuse him of wrongdoing or make him feel like he had to retreat and hide. Or like maybe he was wrong and he really was that terrible of a person after all. Contrary to popular belief, the idea did cross his mind sometimes. All of that suspicion, and if they could see him now, they would never believe it.

Living beneath the Circus had given him a small measure of independence and solitude. His room was small, and little more than a bedroom, but it was his own. He hated using the communal kitchen intended for the residents that did not live on blood alone when anyone else was there. A part of him was always waiting for the next unexpected thing that he would have taken away from him or be punished for.

So, he made sure to be awake when everyone else was gone. The simple sounds of the kitchen were soothing. They reminded him of time spent with his mother when he was young, learning her family recipes. He knew them all by heart. No one could take that from him.

The sound of a knife chopping vegetables was familiar. Onions and garlic sizzling in the pan, calming. When he was alone like this, he felt the entire world fade away. He could take this calm, wrap it around himself while he waited for the next opportunity. One slow step at a time, until he could find a path to freedom.

After he ate, he carefully washed and dried every utensil and cleaned every inch of the kitchen he had used. Caleb made sure that there was no trace of himself left behind, excepting the scent lingering in the air. But that too was a ghost, and would be long gone by the time anyone else got there.

**Author's Note:**

> Yet again, as with most of the stories in this series, the prompt came from an episode of the podcast Start With This on the Nightvale Presents network. I'm finding it very encouraging to be able to build something from the "assignments" and learning about the creative process. The title as always is from a song, this time it was I Don't Care by 2NE1.


End file.
